With a purple second-line umbrella unfurled over her head, freshman forward Krystal Forthan strutted her stuff on the PMAC floor Wednesday after practice.
Horrified by the bad-luck omen of opening an umbrella indoors, an LSU assistant pleaded with Forthan to put the umbrella away.
“I don’t get bad luck,” said a confident Forthan as she continued to stroll on her hardwood catwalk.
Yep, March Madness is back in Baton Rouge.
The Lady Tigers (22-10) make their return to the tournament Sunday after a one-year hiatus that resulted in former coach Van Chancellor’s resignation.
“Last year we were in our apartments or at home,” said senior forward LaSondra Barrett. “Just watching everybody play on TV was kind of depressing. Right now it feels good just to be able to play.”
The sweetest part about the return to the madness for the Lady Tigers might be that they get to host at least one tournament game and maybe another if they can get through the first round with a win.
Standing in their way is San Diego State (26-6), who will come to Baton Rouge having won eight of its last nine games, including a 14-point victory against New Mexico in the Mountain West Championship Game.
The Lady Tigers and the Aztecs tip off at 6:30 p.m. Sunday night at the PMAC.
Leading the charge for the Aztecs is junior guard Courtney Clements, an Arizona transfer, who averaged 17.4 points and 5.3 rebounds this season. She was also deadly from the charity stripe, hitting 86.9 percent of her free throws.
LSU coach Nikki Caldwell should be familiar with Clements. The Long Beach, Calif., product dropped 19 points on Caldwell’s UCLA squad in her San Diego State debut last year.
The Lady Tigers will counter with their typical brand of hard-nosed defense that they used to bottle up opposing offenses to 53 points per game on 34.1 percent shooting.
Senior forwards Courtney Jones and Barrett, who both stand 6-foot-2, provide LSU’s defensive length. Barrett sealed LSU’s first win in the Southeastern Conference tournament against Arkansas with a block in the closing seconds.
The duo also combined to post 21.4 points per game and 12.7 rebounds per game, while shooting 44 percent from the floor.
But Jones and Barrett’s impact goes beyond their tough defensive play and their scoring punch – they also bring tournament experience to the roster.
“I just try to tell them that everybody is coming at it,” Jones said. “It’s basketball, nobody’s safe. … The small things really matter in the NCAA tournament.”
With five seniors on the squad and the opportunity to play in front of a home crowd, the Lady Tigers understand the importance of what may be their final game this season.
“We knew we had a chance to be in it,” Barrett said. “It’s one loss and you’re out, the season’s done. You can’t have any games where you come not ready to play, or not intense, because you’ll go home.”
____ Contact Luke Johnson at [email protected]